


Hugs and Cookies

by Caiti (Caitriona_3)



Series: The Cahill Project [59]
Category: Captain America (Movies), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Jeremy Renner Character Combinations, Kid Fic, The Cahill Project, The Grimm Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 14:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18625501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/pseuds/Caiti
Summary: Arthur needs his Dad . . . and Clint loves his new role.





	Hugs and Cookies

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place November 25, 2013.
> 
> Bingo Fills:
> 
> Clint Bingo: Kid Fic  
> Fluff Bingo: Catch-Me Hug  
> Bad Things Bingo: Tearful Smile

Paperwork equaled evil – it might as well be a Grimm motto. And Clint Grimm believed in it with every fiber of his being. Hadn’t it been enough that he and Bucky had been the only S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the ground in Greenwich? Especially when no one at headquarters had answered Darcy’s call? His whole family still steamed over that one and Jason seemed to be making it his life’s business to find out what caused the interference. 

At least they’d been able to call the family directly.

Right now, though, he grumbled over the files in his hands. All the damn reports he needed to finish filling out and signing off in regards to the attack. And this was **after** the Coulsons trimmed it down by more than half.

“Dad!”

The loud shout brought his attention up, the grin blossoming on his face as he watched his new five-year-old son – official and everything as of last Monday – running towards him. Without one whit of a care, he dropped his files on the floor beside the door and stepped forward, arms opening wide. “Hey, kiddo!”

“You’re home!”

Still several steps away, Arthur launched himself into the air, appearing to have complete and utter confidence in his dad’s ability to catch him. And Clint didn’t fail. Maybe it meant he had to rush forward a step or two, but he had no intention of letting his boy down. Catching the youngster, he planned to swing him around. His son had a different idea. The little boy threw his arms and legs around the man, clinging with all his might.

“Hey.” 

Concern spiked as Clint wrapped his arms around the small figure. “What’s wrong, little man?”

“Nothing.” Arthur released him and leaned his head back. “I’m just glad to see you.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah.” Then his son paused, biting his lip. “I don’t like it when you’re gone,” he admitted.

“I know, kiddo.” He touched his son’s cheek. “But I was just over at HQ for the day.”

“But sometimes when you go there, you don’t get to come home!” Arthur protested, putting his head down on his dad’s shoulder. “You have to go away and then sometimes people get scary!”

Brow furrowing, Clint glanced up as Darcy appeared in the doorway. 

She held a finger up to her lips before he could speak, then her hands flowed into the sign language he’d taught her. _He needs his dad right now. Bad dreams._ When he nodded, she disappeared back into the apartment.

He rubbed a hand on his son’s back as he heard the little boy’s breathing hitch. Still ignoring the files, Clint walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, cuddling his son to his chest. Arthur’s emotions still tended to jump from one extreme to the other sometimes, going from clinging to standoffish in a blink, so the tactile man relished the chance to do this even as he tried to figure out how to calm the boy. “Did anybody get scary today?”

“No,” Arthur admitted, blue eyes peeping up at him through a fringe of blond bangs. “But when you and Papa and Mama went away, people got scary.”

“Who got scary?”

“Aunt Marina.”

If an alien crashed through the window beside him, Clint doubted he would be as shocked as those two little words made him. **Marishka?** Sure, his sister – mother in all but name – could be one kick ass woman on a rampage, but she didn’t show that around the kids. Ever. Scary for them? Sure, in a heartbeat. Scary towards them? In front of them? No way. Not unless the world was ending and she had to stop it. Why would she have done anything in front of the newest kid in the family? 

A thought occurred to him.

“Arthur? Where were you when Aunt Marina got scary?” As his son ducked his head, Clint nodded to himself. “Arthur.”

It took another few moments, but soon the little boy huffed out a breath. “Hiding in the cupboard.”

Now **that** made more sense. If Marina hadn’t known one of the Baby Brigade could see her, then yeah, she might have cut loose with some of her legendary temper. Damn, but she was going to hate to find out about this. **If** she found out. “Probably not a good idea to be hiding in Aunt Marina’s kitchen, kiddo.” Tears glistened in those big blue eyes and Clint brushed a hand over his head. “You’re not in trouble,” he assured his son. 

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Hugging his son to him, he pressed a kiss to the top of the blond hair. How did one explain to a child the need for someone to vent? And a good place to do it in? “You know how Aunt Marina is so careful with her kitchen?” When Arthur nodded, Clint smiled. “That’s because sometimes she needs to get her worries out without upsetting people, so she goes in there.”

“Why does Aunt Marina get worried?”

“Everybody gets worried – especially when they’re scared.”

“Like me not liking you being gone?” 

“Exactly.” He hugged Arthur closer. “You got scared and then got worried. Aunt Marina does the same thing, but she tends to get mad when she’s worried. She knows that upsets people, so she goes in the kitchen until she gets all the worried out.”

“So she didn’t mean to be scary, right?”

“That’s right.” Considering the room itself, Clint decided to add another warning. “The kitchen also has a lot of stuff in it, some of which could be dangerous. It’s really not a good place to hide.” Arthur bit his lip as tears came back into his eyes. “Hey, buddy, I promised - nobody’s mad and you’re not going to be in any trouble.”

“Aunt Marina won’t be mad?”

“Never.” That was definitely one point he wanted to drive home. “Aunt Marina loves you, baby. She’s going to love you no matter what. I promise.”

“Okay.” Arthur seemed to muse on that. Then he peered up at Clint. “Dad?”

“Yeah, son?”

“I had a bad dream.”

“During your nap?”

“Uh huh.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Clint didn’t want to push, but Arthur kept so much locked up in his head. They knew something dark lurked in the little boy’s memories, but he never wanted to talk about his nightmares. Sometimes it seemed like he might tell them . . . then he would shut down. 

“There was a scary man.” The words sounded like they dragged themselves out of Arthur’s mouth. Reluctant and hesitant as they might be, at least his son was talking. “He hurt someone.”

“Do you know who?”

Arthur paused and then shook his head, burying his face in Clint’s shoulder. Crooning a soft lullaby, one of Marina’s, the father rocked his son as he tried to soothe him. Slowly, the shaking stopped and Arthur relaxed in his hold once more. “You know Marina would never hurt you, right?”

“Uh, huh.” He nodded, not looking up. “Papa said Aunt Marina only got scary with bad people.”

“Your papa’s right.” Clint’s brow furrowed. When had this been? And where was Bucky anyway? “He knows your Aunt Marina better than almost anybody.”

“He said that too,” Arthur admitted. “When he woke me up.”

Ah . . . so Bucky must be back with Darcy – both of them hoping he could take up wherever they’d left off in the questioning and soothing. Even after just three months, he had no clue how Marina had managed so many kids all by herself. 

“But then you weren’t home yet,” he continued. “And I got scared. Then…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged.

“Everything got confused in your head again?”

“Yeah.”

Okay, this Clint could do. It meant dragging out old lessons, old habits, that he’d used when working with Kenny on things like this before. Aaron might not need the same help anymore, but now he could apply them to his son. “When things get mixed up in your head, it’s a good idea to put them in order again,” he explained, pulling on his memories. “Sometimes everything gets tangled, like Mama’s hair. What does we do when that happens?”

“We help her brush them out.”

“That’s right.” 

“How do you brush thoughts out, Dad?”

“By taking them one at a time,” he replied. “You take each thought separately and think about it, try to remember how it fits into the big picture. Like Aunt Marina. Except for that one time, has she ever been scary?”

The little boy shook his head. “No,” he decided. “She’s funny and nice and she took care of my scrapes when I first came.”

“So she’s not like the scary man?”

“No! She doesn’t hurt people.” Arthur frowned. “So I was really scared of the man in my dream and just got it confused because Aunt Marina got mad that day?”

Pride rushed through Clint. “Sounds about right.”

“Oh.” His little nose scrunched up. “Brushing out thoughts is weird.”

“I know,” Clint chuckled. For a minute, the two of them sat in comfortable silence. He needed to figure out a way to consolidate the lesson, removing Marina a little further from the ‘scary man’ – probably the bastard who was his blood ‘uncle’ and not worthy of the title. “I’ve got an idea,” he announced. ‘How about we wash your face and then go find your Mama and Papa so we can go visit Aunt Marina? I bet she’s got some cookies we could try for her.” And being spoiled by his aunt would go a long way towards banishing the nightmare even further away. If Will happened to be home, all the better.

Looking up, Arthur managed a tearful smile. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Clint rose, still holding the little boy in his arms as he began to stride towards the bedrooms. “We have to go check out those cookies – make sure they’re good, right?”

“Yeah!”

“We don’t want Aunt Marina to have bad cookies, do we?”

“No!” 

That shout made him grin as Arthur giggled and they walked into the main bedroom. Bucky smiled at them from across the room, his phone at his ear as he spoke to someone in a quiet voice. Before Arthur could say anything, Darcy sailed out of the bathroom with a wet cloth in her had. “What’s this I hear about cookies?” 

Her bright, cheerful voice drew a smile to their son’s face. “Dad says we’re going to go make sure Aunt Marina has good cookies.”

“Good idea. I like it,” she agreed as she wiped his face. He squirmed, but Clint held him steady. “There,” she announced. “All handsome and ready to go visiting.” Her eyebrows rose as she turned to look at Bucky. “Ready?”

“We’re good.” Bucky waited until Darcy distracted their son to start signing. _Called Marina. She’s getting the cookies out now to warm them up._ He frowned. _Told her about the nightmare, but not about Arthur hiding in her kitchen. Figured the nightmare would be enough to get her into full-blown spoiling mode._

If Clint could manage it, he never intended to tell Marina about Arthur seeing her scary side. Some things just didn’t need to be shared. 

“Time for cookies, Dad?”

Shifting his son in his arms, Clint gave him a wide grin. “Definitely time for cookies.” Bucky reached out for Arthur, but he ducked away. “Nope!” he laughed as he hoisted their boy up so he almost lay over his shoulder. “Kid’s all mine!” Arthur started giggling as Clint raced out of the room with Bucky chasing them. 

“Catch us, Mama!”

“Mama will catch you at the elevator,” Darcy called back. “Especially if your Dad and Papa know what’s good for them.”

Neither of them being idiots, Clint and Bucky finished their game at the elevator, waiting for her as they played ‘pass the kid’. Gentle tosses sent Arthur flying from one man to the other, his laughter ringing out with each handoff. When Darcy joined them, they got on for the short ride to the main family floor. When the elevator doors opened, the door to the family room opened as well. 

Marina came hurrying out, her smile bright and cheerful. “I heard someone needed cookies?”

“Dad said we had to come make sure you didn’t have bad cookies,” Arthur told her, no sign of fear or concern in him at all. 

Clint gave a little sigh of relief. They’d keep an eye on things, but Thanksgiving was coming soon, and if Darcy went as Christmas crazy as she had last year, then this particular problem should be handled. He still knew they needed to deal with the ‘scary man’ in Arthur’s dreams, but one step at a time. 

“So,” he smiled at Marina, “cookies?”

“I have chocolate, double chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and snickerdoodles,” she informed them as she gave Arthur a little wink, her smile widening as he giggled. “Come in and enjoy. I definitely need a taste tester.”

“Yummy!”


End file.
